Fortnight Findings
by Tamara LeeFor some reason, this past fortnight, I embarked on a submission-frenzy.
Stories I had nearly forgotten about have been unboxed and cleaned up, and soon will be sent off, paraded about like old favourite shoes, a bit worn but workable nonetheless. So many, in fact, I’ve had to create a project log for the first time in years, all colour-coded and orderly. Who knew I had so many shoes, erm, stories?
This means, though, I’ve not had time to muse up a decent blog post for you, but I have collected an assortment of recent, potentially inspiring, links.
A hundred years, or 8 months, ago I wrote about being impressed by online projects from Chris Baty and Louise Doughty. Now, seems they have even more to offer us.
Chris Baty, co-founder of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), has a new venture called Script Frenzy. In June, you can try your hand at writing a screenplay in a month. Watch this link for more information. As someone who’s actually managed this before, I think it'll be easier than the novel-in-a-month, a feat I’ve not yet achieved (but one our very own inspiring MelBel has!)
For those of you writing novels at a more leisurely pace, novelist Louise Doughty has completed her 2006 Novel-in-a-Year online writing course and will spend 2007 chronicling her struggles to complete her fifth novel. Now we can imagine we, too, are completing our novels, whilst taking brooding English countryside walks and having chic dinners with glamorous writing friends. But it’s comforting, even inspiring, to know that a writer’s struggle is similar, whether it’s novel number five or story number five.
Speaking of inspiring, Ian McEwan himself couldn’t have written a more fascinating tale. This kind of stuff can’t be made up, people; it’s so real, it’s sure to be a movie some day.
And so, with that, I will head back to the pit of grubby stories to see if polish will be enough for them.
Until next time...
posted by TJL | 3:31 am
5 Comments:
Good for you for sub'ing Tamara, I think it's great that you are on a wave of that right now, your stories need to be read by editors :) Thanks for the novel in a year link - it's just what I need right now. ~Jen
Let us know how you found your stories after having left them for a while. Would you have written that story now if you were starting anew? I have a few old stories I revisit from time to time and can't seem to make "right." My theory is that it's because I was a different person when I wrote them.
Hi there, you two. Thanks, Jen. I hope to remain motivated. Seems that phenomenon comes in waves with me :)
Yes, Tricia, it's a bit surprising how different some of the stories are. The ones from a very long time ago. But I have found nuggets in some, stripped some down and turned them into poems, and found drafts of stories I've written in the past two years that I'd completely forgotten about.
I always think I don't have many stories, then I find bits and pieces and near-complete tales strewn throughout old journals. Abandoned stories are full of possibilies; they're like appreciative abandoned dogs, sometimes
Hey Tamara, yeah. good for you for subbing!!! and the struggles us writers go through, it's good to hear "everyone" goes through the same think. Good luck with the subs, and let us know..xo
Now I'm going on a submission frenzy. But, ah, I don't have anything to send right now. Good Luck, Diane Smith, The Maple Room
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